1st to 3rd century CE, a carved narrative schist panel with a seated Sakyamuni Buddha in the center accompanied by two attendants on either side and bodhi trees, this is likely from a stair riser panel for a temple or a base of a temple stupa, it exhibits the characteristic Greco-Roman influence over the Gandhara region (present day Pakistan), it comes together with a fitted stand and tomobako wooden storage box.

4 1/4 x 13 x 2 in.

Private Collection, New York and North Carolina

By descent from Ethel Novello, New York, New York
Purchased in 1952 from Mayuyama & Co. in Tokyo Japan

Ethel Novello was an art collector and fashion designer in New York City. She specialized in swimsuit design, clothing contestants for the Miss World Pageant, and her designs were featured in various publications throughout her career. Ethel's brother-in-law was a professor in Japan, and through this connection she acquired much of the Asian artwork offered here at auction.

Ethel's family had a long-time presence within the New York entertainment industry. Her mother, Ethel Novello McAssey, was a Broadway dancer. Her uncle was the famous Armando "Toto" Novello, also known as "Toto the Clown." Based in the Bronx, he was a traveling performer and silent film star throughout the early twentieth century.

Good estate condition; some old losses to edges; rough edges to sides, top, and bottom as well as back; section appears cut with loss on reverse.

$2,000 - 4,000